Saturday, November 22, 2014

Staunton, November 22 – The Russian
defense ministry has rejected an appeal by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of
the LDPR, to do away with the five-pointed star because of its links to the
Soviet past. Deputy Defense Minister Nikolay Pankov said there was no reason to
do that because the star has far more ancient and significant meaning.

In a letter to Zhirinovsky reproduced
online, Pankov says that “the five-pointed star is a most ancient symbol of
defense against dark forces, of the protection and security” of those who use
it, “including Orthodoxy.” Moreover, he says, it was used to mark “the
transition of the Roman Empire to the true faith, Christianity” at the time of
Constantine the Great (znak.com/moscow/news/2014-11-20/1031779.html).

The deputy minister acknowledges
that some have had problems with it because of its associations with the Masons,
but he suggests that these “satanic associations” have never been significant. Given
the true associations of “the symbol of the red star,” he argues, there is no
reason to dispense with the five-pointed star now.

Zhirinovsky’s proposal and Pankov’s
rejection of it are part of a larger back and forth between the flamboyant
leader of the LDPR and the Russian authorities about Soviet era symbols, one
that is certain to attract a certain amount of media attention but not to lead
to any changes (apn.ru/news/article32689.htm).

But if that proves to be the case
with Zhirinovsky’s latest foray into the media, Pankov’s arguments are
nonetheless extremely disturbing. Russian nationalists have often used the term
“dark forces” to refer to Jews and to justify pogroms and other actions against
them. Indeed, that term was a regular feature in Black Hundreds propaganda a
century ago.

For a senior Russian government
official to be using it now and to be putting it in the same context that
anti-Semites did at the end of the imperial period is disturbing because it
sends a signal about what the powers that be in Moscow are really thinking and
about what they may be about to do next.